In business, promotion occurs whenever you communicate with the public in an attempt to influence them toward buying your products or services. Generally, businesses promote their brand, products, and services by trying to bring them to the forefront of their target audience’s attention.
You might promote your business in person through direct selling or in a retail store, via the internet through a website or social media platform, or electronically through email or text messaging, just to name a few of the more popular business communication channels. But it’s the intention to influence the consumer that defines promotion and sets it apart from other communication with customers or clients.
Definitions: Promotion or Advertising?
The words promotion and advertising are often used interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing.
Advertising is one specific action you could take to promote your product or service. In other words, it’s one type of promotion.
Promotion, as a general term, includes all the ways available to make a product or service known and available for purchase. Someone starting a business, for instance, might ask themselves how they’re going to promote their products or services. Advertising would be one of the ways, but there are many others. An ad on a bus shelter is promotion. So is a marketing campaign or offering a discounted price for a set amount of time.
The word promotion is also used specifically to refer to a particular activity that is intended to promote the business, product, or service. A store might advertise that it’s having a big promotion on certain items, for instance, or a business person may refer to an ad as a promotion. Businesses also often create or buy promotional merchandise—products that often have been branded with a company’s logo—to give away at events such as trade shows or as thank yous to customers.
Promotion Examples
Word of Mouth
This is considered by many to be the most effective way to promote a business and, best of all, it is free. According to Nielsen, 83% of consumers trust the recommendations of friends and family.1 Businesses that consistently go the extra mile to provide superior customer service rely on word of mouth over other forms of promotion. Actively asking for referrals is one way you can speed up the word of mouth process.
Website
A professionally-designed website can be an excellent promotion tool, allowing businesses to inexpensively post up-to-date information on products and services. Most businesses that do not normally promote through the web still have simple websites that contain basic information about the business (contact information, directions, etc.).
Social Media
Social media is a popular, inexpensive form of online business promotion. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can be effective in reaching customers. If you are skilled with taking video (or know someone who is), you can record video promotions of your products or services and post them on YouTube. Influencer marketing, which leverages celebrities or other well-known personalities—and their large online followings—to promote products, is another increasingly popular form of promotion through social media.
The Elevator Pitch
This quick promotional technique is used by business people to give a short two or three sentence description of what their business does and how their products or services might benefit potential customers.
Business Cards
These are still one of the most commonly used forms of business promotion, even in the digital age. In fact, in Asian countries, exchanging business cards has become a ritual.2 All types of business documents are used for promotional purposes—letterheads and email signatures typically contain the company logo and promotional tag line.
Vehicle Decorations (Wraps)
Vehicle wraps are hugely popular for business promotion, with many business vehicles featuring a professionally-designed business logo, tag line, and contact information. Many industry estimates say that a single vehicle wrap can generate 30,000 to 70,000 views per day (depending on the locale, population size, etc.),